King Abdullah chairs Cabinet meeting

October 26, 2009

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz chaired the weekly Cabinet meeting at Al Yamamah Palace in Riyadh today. At the outset, the King briefed the Cabinet on his most recent contacts with foreign officials, including phone conversations with Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir and Afghan President Hamid Karzai and meetings with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Belgian Crown Prince Phillipe, and Canadian Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon.

The Cabinet condemned a recent Israeli police actions at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, warning that the incident could have serious repercussions on international peace and stability. The Cabinet also condemned a yesterday’s double suicide bombings that targeted government buildings in Baghdad and resulted in at least 160 deaths. The ministers underlined the Kingdom’s staunch opposition to terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

On the domestic front, the Cabinet stressed that all necessary preventative measures must be taken to ensure the safety of the Saudi people in light of the global A-H1N1 flu outbreak.

Turning to other official business, the Cabinet authorized the General President of Meteorology and Environmental Protection to sign a draft memorandum of understanding in the field of meteorology with Qatar; authorized the Minister of Finance to sign a draft agreement with Romania on the prevention of tax duplication and tax evasion; and approved regulating the National Center for Alternative and Supplementary Medicine.

The Cabinet then approved the appointment of Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Khodairi as Undersecretary of the Makkah Governorate (15th rank); Abdulkareem Al-Harbi as Undersecretary of the Asir Governorate (15th rank); Hazim Kirkatli as Ambassador at the Foreign Ministry; Mostafa Al-Mubarak as Minister Plenipotentiary at the Foreign Ministry; and Dr. Mohammad Al-Kthairi as Undersecretary of the Ministry for Technical Affairs (15th rank) at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.